Kevin JohnsonSemrush is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company based in Boston, Massachusetts, which offers an online visibility management platform. Oleg Shchegolev and Dmitri Melnikov founded the company in 2008.
Users can rely on the platform for keyword research and online ranking data from Google and Bing search engines and build, manage, and measure marketing campaigns across digital channels.
In Mar 2021, Semrush went public via IPO and started trading on NYSE. The company launched Content Outline Builder for content generation in 2022 and integrated its Backlinks insights data with SurferSEO. In 2022, Semrush had more than 1,000 employees and over 94,000 customers. The platform attracts over 50,000 monthly active users. [1]
Semrush offers several features, including Domain Authority Tracking, Site Audits, Keyword Research, Competitor, Backlink, Keyword Click Analysis, Content Explorer, and Traffic Analytics. Users can also plan and manage posts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest using Semrush.
In 2022, Semrush acquired the SEO training website Backlinko which draws 500,000 organic monthly visits. This acquisition will strengthen Semrush Academy, an SEO education hub.
However, the company faces stiff competition from Ahrefs, Moz, SimilarWeb, Hootsuite, Zoho Social, Sprout Social, and BrightEdge. [2]
Here is an in-depth analysis of Semrush’s top 15 competitors and alternatives:
1. Ahrefs
Year founded: 2010
Headquarter: Singapore
Ahrefs is a software company that offers online SEO tools and free educational materials. It caters to marketing professionals and website owners.
Ahrefs is an all-in-one SEO toolset that can help anyone to stay on top of their competitors, drive more search traffic and optimize their website.
The platform provides several features, including a site and content explorer. The Site Explorer offers an organic traffic research tool and a backlink checker to help users analyze how their websites compete against the competition in backlinks and traffic
Online marketers can use the content explorer feature to check the popularity of different topics and improve their content marketing campaigns. In 2022, Ahrefs released over 60 new features, updates, free tools, and API endpoints, making it the top Semrush competitor and alternative. [3]
2. Moz
Year founded: 2004
Headquarter: Seattle, Washington
Moz is an SEO-focused company founded by Rand Fishkin and Gillian Muessig. It started as SEOmoz, a blog for sharing research and ideas; however, it was rebranded to Moz in 2013 and expanded its SEO services and tools to help businesses grow.
Moz offers software, educational videos, and advice to help businesses integrate SEO into their digital marketing plans. Like Semrush, Moz is an all-purpose SEO solution with tools for a site audit, backlink analysis, and keyword research.
Businesses can use Moz Pro for $99-$999 per month or Moz Local for $99-$249 per month. However, Moz also offers free SEO tools, such as MozBar with Google Chrome extension highlighting sites’ Page Authority (PA) and Domain Authority (DA).
Users can perform keyword research and link analysis of sites from the browser bar, making Moz one of the best alternatives to Semrush. [4]
3. SimilarWeb
Year founded: 2007
Headquarter: New York City, New York
SimilarWeb is a web analytics company specializing in web traffic and performance. The company has 1,288 employees and 12 offices on six continents. In May 2021, SimilarWeb went public via IPO at a $1.6 billion valuation.
SimilarWeb analyzes over 100 million websites and provides a 360-degree view of all digital activity across customers, prospects, partners, and competitors. Unlike Semrush, SimilarWeb leverages an “inbound machine” driven by free tools at the top of the funnel, like traffic analysis tools, website rankings, and browser extensions.
The company adopted a reverse-trial pricing model and paired sales and product-led growth (PLG). This approach increased SimilarWeb’s quarterly revenue by 46% in 2022. SimilarWeb is one of the most innovative Semrush competitors. [5]
4. Hootsuite
Year founded: 2008
Headquarter: Vancouver, Canada
Hootsuite is a social media management platform. It helps companies manage engagement and content across social media networks, including Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. In 2022, Hootsuite had more than 18 million users in 175 countries. The company laid off 30% of its 1,400 employees in Aug 2022. [6]
Hootsuite acquired several startups, including AdEspresso, LiftMetrix, and Sparkcentral, and expanded its CRM, social media analytics, digital ad management, and customer engagement tools.
Like Semrush, Hootsuite allows users to plan and schedule posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, and LinkedIn and is one of the top Semrush competitors.
5. Zoho Social
Year founded: 1996
Headquarter: Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Zoho Social is a platform offered by Indian tech giant Zoho Inc. that offers social media management. It caters to mid-sized businesses and agencies. In 2022, Zoho had around 12,000 employees.
The main competitive advantage for Zoho Social is its integration with other Zoho solutions. Users can schedule posts, manage social networks, track conversations, and measure social media performance from a single dashboard.
In Sep 2022, Zoho Social introduced TikTok, Instagram Reels and Stories, and YouTube Shorts. Zoho Social is one of the best Semrush alternatives. [7]
6. Sprout Social
Year founded: 2010
Headquarter: Chicago, Illinois
Sprout Social is an all-in-one social media platform for large teams and enterprise companies. It provides social media listening, social management, analytics, and advocacy solutions. In 2022, Sprout Social served over 34,000 brands and agencies.
Sprout and Semrush compete in several categories, including social media management, analytics, and monitoring. Sprout users can manage Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube, and LinkedIn accounts in a single platform.
In 2022, Sprout introduced Instagram Reels integration to enhance video management, making it one of the best alternatives to Semrush. [8]
7. BrightEdge
Year founded: 2007
Headquarter: Foster City, California
BrightEdge is an SEO and content performance platform powered by a deep learning engine. Over 1,700 customers, including Microsoft, Adobe, and 64 Fortune 100 firms, use BrightEdge to generate more organic traffic. In Feb 2022, the company acquired the technical SEO platform Oncrawl.
BrightEdge is a leader in organic search and content performance. It enables web-wide, real-time measurement of content engagement across all digital channels and allows users to transform online content into traffic, conversions, and revenue.
In May 2022, BrightEdge and Oncrawl created a new intelligent system that combines BrightEdge SearchIQ and Oncrawl Data Science. BrightEdge is one of the best Semrush alternatives. [9]
8. ContentKing
Year founded: 2015
Headquarter: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
ContentKing is a comprehensive SEO auditing and monitoring solution. It helps businesses maximize search engine visibility through actionable insights and 24/7 website tracking. In 2022, ContentKing had 21 employees and 775 clients, including 200 enterprise-level customers, such as Netflix, Adidas, and H&M.
ContentKing provides a real-time technical SEO monitoring tool. In Feb 2022, Conductor acquired ContentKing for an undisclosed amount and integrated it into its platform to create an end-to-end SEO solution. This integration increases ContentKing’s competitive advantage over Semrush. [10]
9. Raven Tools
Year founded: 2004
Headquarter: Nashville, Tennessee
Raven Tools is an all-in-one SEO solution with tons of features. According to Gartner, Raven Tools has a 4.5-star rating, and 50% of users considered Semrush before purchasing Raven Tools. [11]
Raven Tools offers several features, including site auditor, link building and tracking tools, keyword planner, and custom reports. It caters to all entities in the SEO sector, from small agencies to professional and beginner marketers and large companies.
Users can automate reporting and create custom reports using data from different platforms, such as Google Ads, Google Analytics, Bing Ads, and Facebook, making Raven Tools a worthy alternative to Semrush.
10. SE Ranking
Year founded: 2013
Headquarter: Palo Alto, California
SE Ranking is a comprehensive SEO tool with a 4.8-star rating on G2 from 1,148 customer reviews. Its robust features help digital marketing agencies and website owners integrate SEO into their marketing content. In 2022, SE Ranking released seven new tools and integrations.
SE Ranking’s 2022 releases expanded its keyword database and improved the user flow. Marketers can now fulfill almost any SEO initiative within the SE Ranking ecosystem.
In 2023, SE Ranking will refine existing tools and data processing algorithms to deliver more accurate keyword search volume, keyword difficulty, and traffic estimates. SE Ranking is one of the top Semrush competitors. [12]
11. Serpstat
Year founded: 2013
Headquarter: Odesa, Ukraine
Serpstat is a SaaS platform for keyword research and competitor analysis. According to G2, Serpstat has a 4.6-star rating from 443 customer reviews, and employs 87 people globally.
Serpstat users can execute competitors and backlinks research, keyword analysis, website content optimization, and organic position tracking in a single platform. In 2022, the platform released new features and updates.
Marketers can now check popular topics worldwide on a specific day with the Keyword Trends tool and exclude irrelevant competitors from the Competitors’ report. These enhancements increase Serpstat’s competitive advantage over Semrush. [13]
12. Meltwater
Year founded: 2001
Headquarter: San Francisco, California
Meltwater is a leader in social and media intelligence. The platform analyzes about one billion online documents daily to help PR, communications, and marketing pros make informed and strategic decisions. In 2022, Meltwater had 27,000 corporate customers and 2,300 employees working in 50 offices across six continents.
Meltwater users manage and measure data-driven PR programs with hyper-targeted search, pitching, and journalist relations features. The company leverages social media listening tools to learn more about consumer trends. Then, it creates reports to educate brands and marketers on how to appeal to the target audience.
In Nov 2022, Meltwater released Birdseye Report: #Foodies on Twitter to highlight how inflation and supply chain disruptions changed eating habits globally. Meltwater’s comprehensive reports can poach some marketers from Semrush. [14]
13. seoClarity
Year founded: 2007
Headquarter: Chicago, Illinois
seoClarity is an enterprise SEO platform that combines world-class data, AI insights, and execution. In Jun 2022, seoClarity acquired RankSense’s technology and IP to expand its new SEO execution platform ClarityAutomate. The deal was financed by a $30 million fund secured in 2021. [15]
The seoClarity platform leverages a proprietary Clarity Grid technology stack that combines petabytes of data to deliver actionable AI-driven insights. It helps marketers develop content strategies, analyze competitive gaps, improve usability, and boost SEO performance.
With RankSense, ClarityAutomate now offers robust machine learning solutions, new approaches for scaling SEO, and automated Core Web Vitals page speed. seoClarity is an innovative Semrush competitor and alternative.
14. Reputation.com
Year founded: 2006
Headquarter: San Ramon, California
Reputation is a B2B online reputation and CX (customer experience) management company. The software manages consumer feedback from acquisition to loyalty and helps marketers extract actionable insights from business data. In Dec 2022, Reputation was listed in the HubSpot App Marketplace.
The Reputation Experience Management platform functions as a business’ eyes and ears in online venues where customers engage. It analyzes vast amounts of feedback data from posts, reviews, and recommendations to uncover actionable insights for companies to improve CX.
Users can rely on the Reputation-HubSpot integration to access CX insights, pair customer sentiment data with other HubSpot reports, and organize business strengths and weaknesses by location or region. Reputation is a worthy alternative to Semrush. [16]
15. HubSpot Marketing Hub
Year founded: 2006
Headquarter: Cambridge, Massachusetts
HubSpot Marketing Hub is a platform that automates marketing. It helps businesses attract and engage the target audience and convert website visitors into customers. In 2022, HubSpot served nearly 160,000 customers across more than 120 countries. [17]
HubSpot Marketing Hub users can run entire inbound marketing campaigns at scale from a single, easy-to-use CRM platform. It also offers sales, customer management systems, and CRM software.
Thousands of companies already use these solutions. So, they are more likely to choose HubSpot Marketing Hub over Semrush, making it a formidable Semrush competitor.
References & more information
- Semrush (2022, Nov 15). Semrush Announces Third Quarter 2022 Financial Results. Yahoo Finance
- Nguyen, G. (2022, Jan 20). Semrush acquires SEO training website Backlinko. Search Engine Land
- Andrei-Marcel, T. (2023, Feb 13). What is New at Ahrefs? Ahrefs.com
- Mallya, S. (2023, Jan 6). Semrush vs. Moz: Which is the Best SEO Tool? 99signals
- Poyar, K. (2022, Oct 18). How SimilarWeb Grew to $190M Revenue Run Rate and Beyond. Open View Partners
- Bek, N. (2022, Aug 10). Hootsuite lays off 30% of staff to focus on financial sustainability amid the downturn. Geek Wire
- Mathew, S. (2022, Sep 8). Announcing TikTok, Instagram Reels and Stories, and YouTube Shorts on Zoho Social. Zoho.com
- Sprout Social (2022, Nov 3). Sprout Social announces Third Quarter 2022 Financial Results above Guidance Range. Globe Newswire
- BrightEdge (2022, May 18). BrightEdge and Oncrawl Create Industry’s First Intelligent System for SEO. PRNewswire
- Goodwin, D. (2022, Feb 16). Conductor acquires technical SEO monitoring tool ContentKing. Search Engine Land
- Gartner (2023, Jan 1). Raven Tools Reviews. Gartner.com
- Shchehel, S. (2023, Jan 24). SE Ranking’s 2022 Accomplishments and Product Vision for 2023. SERanking.com
- Zadachenkova, Y. (2023, Jan 31). Serpstat’s Changes in 2022: New Trending Tools and AI to Succeed in 2023. Serpstat.com
- Meltwater (2022, Nov 1). Meltwater and Twitter release a new report about the changing online foodie community. Globe Newswire
- seoClarity (2022, Jun 1). seoClarity acquires RankSense, the world’s leading Edge SEO automation solution. Globe Newswire
- Reputation (2022, Dec 20). Reputation joins the HubSpot App Marketplace. PRNewswire
- HubSpot, Inc. (2023, Jan 26). HubSpot to Announce Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Financial Results. PRNewswire
- Featured Image by Benjamin Dada
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